Breaking Ground

At long last, we have finally broken ground on our playground! Over April vacation, Woodside was the scene of much activity. The first goal: installing our new swing set. Although the process is fairly simple, it's not exactly easy. 

The first step was to measure and stake out the area where the swing set would go. We chose a relatively flat area parallel to the current swing set. 

Once we marked where the swing set poles were supposed to go, we used a power auger to dig the holes. 

We hit a few rocks along the way that had to be dug out by hand. On the last two holes, we hit ledge. We rented a special tool to drill a hole into the ledge, then put rebar into the hole. The ledge became an anchor. 

Our Woodside student helpers were awesome! They moved equipment, used power tools, shoveled dirt, and filled holes with cement. They were an eager crew. Here, they are moving cardboard tubing that would serve as concrete molds.

We cut the tubing to fit the holes. 

Next came assembly. The poles were placing within the tubing. We made adjustments to make the frame straight and level.

Pieces of wood were used to keep the poles in place.

Meanwhile, extra tubing was cut into smaller pieces and scrap wood was used to make a frame. Just wait until you see what we ended up doing with these!

After lunch, the cement truck arrived. 

Working quickly, we filled wheelbarrows with cement and poured the cement into the holes. Everyone grabbed a shovel and worked the cement down in between the gaps in the wooden braces to fill the holes. 

Remember that wooden frame and the cut-up pieces of tubing? We filled those with leftover cement. The kids pressed their hands into the cement in the frame to make a nice memento of the day. In the tubes, we pressed rocks and glass beads into the cement. What for, you ask? Wait for it....

Almost a week later, when the cement was fully hardened, we cleaned up the extra cement around the poles and removed the braces. We spread out wood chips and attached the hardware.

A few helpers came along and gave the swings a try. They were given an enthusiastic thumbs up (by a few adults, too!). 

The finished product!

Remember those round molds? We peeled off the cardboard and were left with beautiful, homemade.....

Stepping stones! They are in the forest area. They make a curved path and encircle a tree. These also received high praise from our student testers. 

There was one more project that was completed during April vacation, but it deserves a blogpost all its own. Stay tuned.

A huge thank you to all our students, parents, and staff members who helped build the swing set. It was truly a wonderful day filled with Woodside community spirit and one that everyone who participated will remember for a long time. 

We're Back....And We Have A Plan!

The Kindergarten playground.

The Past Year

While it might have seemed like not very much was happening last year in the way of moving forward with the new playground, the Woodside Playground Project committee was hard at work trying to come up with the right plan for our school. We did a lot of research--taking into account our school grounds, the wishes of our students and teachers, the unique requirements of our special needs students, and the cost.

After looking at out-of-the-box playgrounds, we found the equipment to be expensive and uninspiring. Our goal was to come up with a plan that would allow for a more flexible playscape that would encourage creativity, help children connect with nature, be more cost-effective, and would take advantage of our beautiful natural setting.

The wooded area next to the swings.

Designing a natural playground requires help of an expert, so we hired Sashie Misner, a landscape architect, to help us come up with a plan. Sashie has been studying natural play for over 10 years and has designed playgrounds in the Portland area--including the soon-to-be-built children's garden at Fort Williams Park in Cape Elizabeth.

Hiring a designer was actually a cost-effective move--with a detailed plan in place, we can avoid the costly mistakes that would come from trying to do it piecemeal on our own. Also, a professional plan will make our project more attractive to potential donors as we apply for grants. Sashie had great ideas for working with the landscape of the school yard and solving problems such as the flooding we get in the spring. The members of the playground committee have been very impressed by Sashie's work and overwhelmingly agree that she has come up with ideas that far exceed anything we could have dreamed up on our own.

The main playground.

The Plan

Here is the Master Plan! We are so excited to share this beautiful design with you. Keep in mind that all elements are subject to change--like any creative endeavor, adjustments will need to be made as we go. As problems arise (as they inevitably do with all big projects) changes will arise--so we'll need to be flexible. Items such as the standard equipment that we choose will depend greatly on cost and what items will fit into our space. Think of this as our jumping off point.

The Master Plan

Another thing to keep in mind is that natural playgrounds need to be treated a little differently than out-of-the-box playgrounds. Standard playgrounds cost a lot of money up front and once they are installed are largely maintenance free for the next 10-20 years. They are also immovable during their lifespan. Natural playgrounds, on the other hand, are usually built in phases. The materials are plants, stones, and wood--which generally cost less, but also don't last as long. The upside to this model is that the playground is more flexible--pieces can be moved or removed, if they don't work or as they wear out. Broken pieces will not be as costly as maintaining standard equipment. On the other hand, the playground will require maintenance twice a year from the Woodside community. It will become a project that is ongoing, rather than something we think about only once every ten years, but we think the community building and pride of ownership that will result from this model with be worth it.

Let's take a closer look at the separate areas of the playground. The numbers are arbitrary and do not indicate the order in which the playground will be built.

Area 1

Area 1 is located behind the school. Right now it is an open space with no trees or plants and has a big piece of ledge. It's a very sunny spot and several classrooms look out over it, including the Art Room. Our plan is to turn this into an outdoor classroom. In the center there are rectangular stones arranged as an amphitheater. A walkway leads to the amphitheater from the Art Room and there is a small bridge which crosses over a low spot that tends to collect water. At the top of the picture, there is a small pergola for shade and raised garden beds that will be planted and maintained by each grade. Trees and perennials planted near the building will provide shade and reduce noise to indoor classrooms.

Area 2

Area 2 is a slender piece of grassy area that runs along the playground side of the building. The beautiful stone circle that we have will remain right where it is, but will be covered by a pergola to provide much-needed shade. At the top of the picture you'll notice two game tables, which will allow quiet play for children who are in the mood for a game a checkers.

Area 3

Area 3 is where most of our playground is located right now. The X-Wave will remain where it is, but the large piece of equipment will eventually be removed and replaced with a net climber possibly like this one, which features a slide. New pathways will be created, lined with shrubs and rising slightly to create a bit of a hill. A wooden stage is featured under the trees for dramatic play, along with log seats for the audience.

Area 4

Area 4 runs between the fence and our current play structure. At the top of the drawing there troughs for water play. The walkway is elevated and a bridge spans the area that gets wet when there is run-off from the hill. There is a 4ft climbing wall and a soft sand play area below. In the corner there is a boat that can be used for imaginative play.

Area 5

Area 5 has decorative landscaping and a saucer swing large enough for 4-5 children. This is element is designed to also be enjoyed by special needs students.

Area 6

Area 6 Everyone wanted more swings! The current swings will be moved forward, away from the hill. A new set of swings will be added.

Area 7

Area 7 is one of the committee's favorite areas and is a likely candidate for Phase 1. This is the hill behind the swings that leads to the forest. Steps will lead to the top of the hill, where there will
be a low stone wall that curves in the suggestion of a castle. A hillside slide will be one exit, while the other will be a tree fort type of structure which will have another slide or two and some climbing elements. The sledding hill will remain untouched, but a few trees will mark the boundary. This will be a terrific spot for imaginative play. 

Area 8

Area 8 is the forested area and has been very popular since we cleared low branches and brush. This will continue to be an open play area with a simple fence and archway to section off the Fairy House area. We might also include a stump jump or a trail of "tree cookies" which are thick slices of logs painted in bright colors. 

Area 9

Area 9 is the asphalt section of the playground. The only changes here will be done with paint. We will add more foursquare boxes, paint in lines for the basketball hoops, and add games and designs. We've been thinking about adding a map of Topsham, too.

Area 10

Area 10, also known as the Kindergarten Playground right now, but we envision this as a space that will be particularly nice for our special needs students. This will be one of the more dramatic transformations. The bare, open area right now will receive the benefit of shade trees and low shrubs. There will be a small climbing element in the center and the Space Shuttle bouncers will remain. There is a sand area and raised garden beds that form a small maze. There is a willow tunnel for crawling and picnic tables, as well as sensory art. We'd also like to add a weather station that all students will enjoy, such as a weathervane, a rain gauge, etc.

That's what we have so far...but stay tuned! Soon we'll be breaking the project down into phases and discussing the costs. In the meantime, you can help by supporting Woodside's various fundraisers. If you know of any grant opportunities, or would like to make a donation to the Woodside Playground Project, please contact our principal, Mr. Rick Dedek, at dedekr@link75.org or you can call the school at 725-1243. Thank you for your interest!

Parents...This One's For You

Here's a picture of the parking lot right in front of the Kindergarten  Playground. Notice anything different?

How about if we move in a little closer?

Here's an old picture for those of you who might be stumped...

The gate is GONE!

This opens up approximately twenty parking spaces. Twenty! Anyone who has tried to find a parking space afterschool will know how much this small change is going to improve our lives on a daily basis. However, some of you may be thinking: What about lost playground space? What about FOURSQUARE?!?

Foursquare will be relocated to this area:

As you can see, there is still A LOT of blacktop space. And we know how much the kids love foursquare,  so will be sure to add the boxes over here. Part of our goal is to find creative ways to open up more playground space--not take it away--but the parking problem really needed to be addressed. It was a simple, cost-effective solution.

Speaking of new play spaces, here's how the new wooded area looks now:

A few teachers will be spreading out the chips this week. Our hope is to add a few natural playground ideas out here. One idea we have is to build a slide into this hill:

Over the coming weeks, take a few moments to see this new wooded area--it's really beautiful. 

A Small Steps = Big Rewards

We've finally begun! When we were coming up with ideas for improving the playground, one of the questions we kept asking ourselves was What can we do right away that will have the most impact? Purchasing equipment takes time, careful planning, and of course, money that we don't have at the moment. So we starting looking around at our landscape. 

One of Woodside's strengths is our beautiful natural setting. We're so fortunate to be surrounded by trees. This spot, near the swings, is very popular with children. Unfortunately, it is very dense and teachers have difficulty watching the students from the blacktop. Several years ago, the last playground committee sent out surveys to students asking them what they would like to see in a playground. Many asked for more space to play in the woods.

With that in mind, it made sense to clear some of the wooded area as one of our first projects. And we have to say, it's looking beautiful. Pathways are being cleared so the children will have more space to run and play. Sight lines are open so teachers will have an easier time monitoring the students. It also provides a nice cool, shady area, which we really need. 

The branches will be cleared out and chipped. We will then use the chips to spread along the pathways and define play areas. There's a nice little grotto that we envision as a "Fairy Village" play space, where children can construct tiny houses out of branches, leaves and any natural materials they find. A few ash trees that have been removed will be cut into plaque-sized slabs. With the help of some parents, we hope identify the trees by writing their names on the slabs with a wood burning tool, then attaching the slabs to the trees much like the signs you would see at a botanical garden.

These pictures can't quite capture the peacefulness of this space. We're looking forward to seeing how the children respond to this improved play area. 

Another small step we've taken that would probably go unnoticed if we didn't point it out:

Mr. Dedek and our new custodian, Mike, pulled the rotting boards that surround the  main play area and replaced them with new boards. It's not as easy as it may look; rebar goes fairly deep into the ground to keep the boards in place.

It's not a fun project but a necessary one. This area gets very wet due to the run off coming from the hill. The border helps keep the wood chips from washing away. 

Finally, one of the basketball nets has been replaced. The other should be taken care of before the start of school. 

It's a small start, but a good one.